1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to film viewing devices and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for projecting, viewing, and editing film.
2. Description of the Related Art
During the production of a motion picture film, a film editing table is used to view the film strips produced from a day's shooting, also known as dailies, and to cut and conform the film strips to the movie script. Sprocket wheels guide the film along a film pathway while a light source projects a beam of light through the film and, in conjunction with optics that include stationary and rotating prisms, illuminates frames of the film and projects a film image onto a relatively small, rear projection viewing screen. An editor sitting at the film editing table can view the dailies on the screen and place them in the proper sequence so they follow the movie script.
The light source of the film editing table typically comprises a tungsten-halogen incandescent lamp mounted in a lamp house assembly adjacent a point on the film pathway in front of the editor's sitting position A tungsten-halogen lamp produces light having a color temperature of approximately 2800.degree.-3200.degree. K. In contrast, the light source used in motion picture theatres (such as a xenon lamp) for commercially viewing the finished motion picture produces light having a color temperature greater than 5000.degree. K. While the images viewed on the film editing table's screen therefore do not have the same brightness, clarity, and color relationships as those viewed in a theatre, the editing table's images are sufficient for the purpose of editing dailies Moreover, mounting a xenon lamp in the editing table's lamp house assembly is not practical because a xenon lamp requires a bulky lamp house due to the high voltage insulation needed for discharge type lamps such as a xenon short arc lamp. If it is desireable to view the film as illuminated with the brighter 5000.degree. K. light, a screening room with a standard theatre projector can be used.
When animated films are produced, it is necessary to view sequences of the animation film to judge the animation color, including the background color and registration. To make such color judgments, it is critical that the film be illuminated with light having substantially the same color temperature as the light that will actually be used when the completed film is commercially shown. Conventional film editing tables are not suitable for this purpose, because tungsten-halogen lamps produce light at the wrong color temperature for making such color judgments. As a result, a screening room must be used to project the animation film sequences. Such screening rooms must be constructed or rented, increasing the cost of production, and the film sequences must be taken to the screening room, which might not be conveniently located to the animators. Moreover, oftentimes the screening room is not available on demand, and appointments to use the room must be made well in advance. Thus, it is presently a time consuming, expensive, and laborious process to edit animated films It would be advantageous if animated films could be edited while seated at a conveniently located table, without the expense and bother of taking sequences of film to a screening room.
From the foregoing description, it should be apparent that there is a need for an editing table that can be used to edit animated films without the need for viewing animation film sequences in a screening room. The present invention satisfies this need and provides further related advantages.